Fallen Kingdom

This story was
written to give someone else homework. I was in
the process of teaching someone to work in HTML,
and the learning process goes much more smoothly
if you have a genuine project to work on. (Plus,
it helps to have meaningful text and graphics,
instead of just typing things at random.)
However, the story also makes use of one the
basic functions of HTML: hyperlinks. In this
case, the idea was to create a story where, any
time the reader lost track of who a particular
character was, he or she could simply click on
the character's name and have a brief,
illustrated biography pop up. To keep the story
itself readable, I've removed the underlining
from the links, and made them nearly the same
color as the rest of the text.

Try it, and see what you think. (If you have a
pop-up blocker active, you'll probably have to
turn it off.) One of my close friends is working
on illustrations for these pages; these will be
added as he completes them. This story is a
little too short to really need this sort of
cast list, but it could easily be
expanded...

The princess stayed in her castle, studying
history and literature and learning to dance and
weave and work magic. As a child, she played
with the children of servants and soldiers, but
as she grew older her parents encouraged her to
spend more time with the daughters of nobles.

Two weeks after her eighteenth birthday, a
rebellion began in the northern provinces.
Wrapped in her studies, Iana didn’t even hear
about it for almost a month. It was only after
the first defeat of the Home Guard that the
Court gossip reached her. Though surprised – she
had always assumed that her father was a wise
and just ruler, and therefore no one would rebel
against him – she was not afraid. Her cousin
Valdimar was leading the rebel troops on behalf
of his father, Duke Vedrick, and she did not
consider Valdemar especially smart.

Two weeks later, her father and brother departed
the castle – King Ilnor to lead the Home Guard,
and Prince Immert to gain valuable military
experience. Princess Iana and Queen Ilyria
watched from the walls as they departed. They
spent several days in the tallest tower,
creating enchantments to aid the Home Guard and
protect the King and Prince.

Three days later the Queen died in the night.
Investigation revealed that her food had been
poisoned, and that the killer – the young Count
Bisera – had already fled the castle to join the
rebels. Without the Queen’s magical aid, the
Home Guard was routed. King Ilnor died in the
battle, and Prince Immert was sorely wounded.
General Braviri rallied what troops he could,
but Vedrick’s army reached the castle before
they could respond.

Chapter TwoTimaila was one of the castle’s maids. As a
child, she had been one of Princess Iana’s
friends, and when the castle fell she guided the
princess and her men through the servants’
passages to a hidden passageway. They emerged at
the foot of the mountain: the princess, her
maid, and a dozen soldiers under the command of
sub-captain Galen Moorwarden.

Their escape was not unnoticed. Valdimar and his
troops continued to search for them. They
alternated running and hiding, living off the
land to supplement their meager supplies.

Finally, at a loss for better options, they
approached Duke Arimil. The Duke offered them
his hospitality, but refused to pledge any
support. He suggested that Princess Iana might
marry Valdimar to end the civil war. At
sub-captain Galen’s insistence, they departed
lord Arimil’s lands. The Duke offered choice
supplies, and his wife help to lay a magical
concealment on them, which carried them safely
into the marches.

Frustrated by her reliance on others for
physical defense, Princess Iana talked
Sub-captain Galen into teaching her how to
fight. In exchange, she began teaching him about
magic. This caused some friction with the
guards, who felt that women shouldn’t fight, and
the maid Timaila, who felt that men should not
work magic.

With Vedrick’s forces still hunting them, they
dared not stay in one place for very long. In
the Monastery of Filbrecht, they heard news of
General Braviri, who still commanded the remains
of the army and was harrying Valdimar’s forces
with the support of the local peasants. Thanking
the monks for their news and hospitality, they
quickly departed in search of the General.

A small troop of Valdimar’s soldiers found them
first, killing most of the guards and taking the
survivors prisoner. The princess despaired, but
she had learned enough skill at arms to make her
escape – and found Galen in the process of using
magic to attempt a rescue. Together, they freed
the remaining guards and escaped, leaving the
enemy camp in flames behind them.

General Braviri’s men saw the flames, and
descended on the camp. The return of Princess
Iana in the aftermath of the (short) battle was
greeted with considerable relief. Sadly, the
general reported that Vedrick had found and
cornered Prince Immert’s forces, slaughtering
them to the last man. Sub-captain Galen was
created a Viscount for his services to the
Crown.

Chapter Three
With Princess Iana and the remains of the Home
Guard united, several of the nobles came forward
to offer their support. Being betrayed and
hunted had made the Princess popular with the
peasants and merchants – neither group was much
enamored of Duke Vedrick or his son. The Home
Guard swelled with new recruits.

With Galen’s support, over the objections of the
rest of the council, she took command of one
third of the army, leaving General Braviri to
take the main body of their forces to assault
castle Windenhold. Together, Galen and Iana used
magic to make their force seem much smaller than
it was.

They met their first opposition just outside
Vedrick’s lands, and annihilated the enemy
force. Their disguise was now exposed, but young
lord Valdimar was occupied with General Braviri
and the bulk of the army, and could not come to
his father’s aid. Moving quickly, Princess Iana
brought her forces up and laid siege to the
Duke’s castle. She and Galen fought Duchess
Venaila’s magics, while their soldier stormed
the gate.

With a final blow, the Duchess fell and the
gates were sundered. Iana and Galen took control
of the castle. With Duke Vedrick their prisoner,
they could bargain for the surrender of lord
Valdimar. The loss of Duchess Venaila’s magical
help had already begun to tell, however, and the
Duke’s son fell in battle.